Etihad Scraps Free Chauffeur Service For First & Business Class

a group of airplanes parked at an airport

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Under the innocuous heading of “Etihad Airways introduces new changes to ground and inflight servicesthe airline has put out a press release announcing that it is to stop offering a complimentary chauffeur service to passengers booked into First and Business Class at all of its world wide destinations. The one exception to this will be Etihad’s home base of Abu Dhabi.

When a press release begins with the phrase “…is introducing a series of changes designed to offer increased value and flexibility based on customer feedback” you can be sure that the news inside it isn’t going to be good.

Very rarely do airlines do anything good “based on customer feedback”….in fact it’s amazing how often customer feedback appears to tell airlines to do things that…

(a) most customers don’t want at all (they often want the diametric opposite of what’s being introduced and…

(b) saves the airline money

Funny isn’t it? 🙂

a black car parked in a parking lotI had a chauffeur service from Etihad when visiting Abu Dhabi last year

Anyway, on with Etihad’s latest customer feedback based changes…..

What’s Changing?

For bookings made from 3 July 2017 onwards Etihad will no longer offer a complimentary chauffeur service to First or Business Class passengers except at its home airport of Abu Dhabi.

Note: Travelers booked into Etihad’s ” The Residence” on its A380 aircraft are exempted from this change.

The airline says that the free chauffeur service will be replaced by a paid option offered at “specially negotiated rates” but doesn’t go on to give any indication of what those rate will be like. In addition, the paid chauffeur service will now be available to those booked into Economy Class as well as the airlines premium cabins.

First and Business Class tickets issued prior to 3 July 2017 will not be affected by these changes and will receive complimentary chauffeur service across destinations where the service is currently offered.

a building with a sign on the sideCheck in at Abu Dhabi International Airport

Amusingly Etihad’s press release quotes the airline’s “Executive Vice President Commercial” as saying:

Many customers prefer to make their own ground transportation arrangements. The decision by Etihad Airways to change its offering has been taken to provide increased choice and to ensure fares remain as low and as competitive as possible, while retaining best-in-class service for all guests, in all cabins

Ah yes, because who wouldn’t prefer to make their own ground transportation arrangements rather than have a free chauffeur service ferry them to/from the airport.

Who does he think he’s kidding?!

Thoughts

Is this another sign that all isn’t well at Etihad…or at the big 3 Middle East Airlines in general?

We’re starting to see a number of different “enhancements” coming from the Gulf Carriers and most appear to be pointing towards raising more money, cost cutting and retrenchment.

  • Etihad has just announced a series of route cuts including a withdrawal from San Francisco
  • In April Emirates announced that it would be reducing the number of flights it offers to the US by 20%
  • Emirates and Etihad now allow passengers across all cabins to pay to use some of their lounges
  • Qatar Airways has been caught up in a massive international dispute between its home country and  its neighbors and now can’t overfly large swathes of the Middle East (ok this isn’t a cutback or a sign of financial weakness…but it still isn’t good!)

a bed in a planeEtihad First Class on its Airbus A380

If there’s one thing that the big 3 Middle Eastern airlines are know for it’s their premium cabin offerings (excluding Emirates’ very average Business Class on its 777 aircraft) and, in Etihad’s case, part of the offering was the chauffeur service.

Just how much was the chauffeur service costing Etihad that it felt the need to cut it completely? And not just from Business Class but First Class too.

I understand the decision Etihad took last year to eliminate the free chauffeur service from American Airlines award bookings (that was always an overly generous benefit) and I can see why, perhaps, taking it away from paid Business Class bookings isn’t too far of a stretch either….but why take it away from First Class?

There is no way that the chauffeur costs Etihad has been incurring on paid First Class bookings are a significant cost item to the airline….so why devalue an ultra premium product by removing the benefit?

a seat in a planeEtihad Business Class on its Airbus A380

Is a chauffeur service essential for passengers? No. Is it something that differentiates an offering and something that passengers will notice, remark on and tell others about? Absolutely.

Thew chauffeur service was free advertising for Etihad and something that stuck in passengers minds. Most of us don’t get picked up by chauffeurs very often so, when we do, we tend to remember it and tend to appreciate the entity that gave us the free ride a little bit more.

I think this is a misstep by Etihad and, to a large degree, a false economy….at least as far as First Class goes.